Midway Fire Chief Kent Pridemore gave out six salutatory recognition certificates to Midway’s volunteer firefighters at the city’s monthly meeting on Thursday, May 1st.

Mayor David Knight said the council and citizens appreciated the efforts the firefighters expended and for their achievements in keeping the city safe. City manager Dot Inman Johnson said: “We have one of the best-trained chiefs in the state. Other departments call on his expertise.”

The board moved on to the city’s long-wanted charter school. City manager Johnson said the chair of the charter school advisory committee, Ronald Colston, had said he wanted the council to soon meet with his committee to further some dialogue about the needs of the school. Council member Chuck Willis said he wanted the council to set up policies and develop guidelines.

“The advisory committee is already meeting. We need to set policies and guidelines. We need a meeting with the school advisory board, the Economic Development Committee and the CRA,” said Willis.

The council-led governance board is a city function, the council members said.

“At a workshop on the charter school a few months ago, we requested an extension to change the advisory board then. The advisory committee said they were told by a previous council that they’d be over the school and select the principal,” said Inman Johnson.

"We’re not anywhere near a place to hire staff for a school that’s not even in existence yet (like the advisory committee suggested).

I need guidance from the council on how to proceed in getting them (the advisory committee) to understand they’re not the governance board.”

The committee and council will meet at 6:00 p.m. before June’s regular meeting on the first Thursday of the month (June 5th), she said. The council will meet as the school’s governance board before that meeting at 6:00 p.m. They will consider policies and guidelines for the school, said the city manager.

The council then discussed problems that still plague the city on the activation of the new fire station. A sub-contractor of another company has received a court ruling against the city for liability in the work on the station.

“We were supposed to have a performance bond to make sure the subcontractors were paid,” said Inman Johnson. “Auburn Ford (a previous city manager who was fired) broke up these bids into 16 different projects and didn’t get a performance bond. A performance bond ensures protection for the city and council.”

The city will seek advice from the Florida League of Cities, said Councilwoman Delores Madison.